Harry Potter and the Serpents Within
by Power of Erised
Summary: Harry is settling into living with the last two Marauders in Italy. But when something happens to Draco and his parents; the Potter's fears about the upcoming year at Hogwarts, and the dangers they might face there, become all too real.
1. Bad Faith

**Harry Potter and the Serpents Within**

 **Summary:** Harry is settling into living with the last two Marauders in Italy. But when something happens to Draco and his parents; the Potter's fears about the upcoming year at Hogwarts, and the dangers they might face there, become all too real.

 **Disclaimer:** I make no monetary profit from this decent into the Potterverse. The warm fuzzies from reviews are all I need to sustain my muse … and sushi, I love me some sushi.

 **A/N:** I can post a link to the floor plan I used for their house if anyone's interested. It includes the two floors and a concept design of the front of the house; I am unaware if the house was ever _actually_ built.

 **Chapter 1: Bad Faith**

Harry stretched and rolled over in his large bed to look out the expansive windows occupying one wall of the massive master bedroom that he now called his own. There had been a heated debate as to who should have the room, but Sirius and Remus were adamant that it belonged to Harry. His gaze swept across the orchard and fields of sheep, this was a great way to wake up. He rolled slowly out of bed and headed into the loo, where his personal Potter elf, a female named Neepy (who had chosen to live in the smaller of the two walk-in closets, the 'his' closet) already had the shower running. Harry quickly undressed and stepped under the spray of water, the temperature perfect, as usual.

It had been three weeks since they'd moved here, and the full moon was that night. True to his word, Harry had supplied Remus with the Wolfsbane Potion, and Remus had taken a goblet full yesterday and would again this morning. The three men had turned the duelling room off the library into Remus' room, as Harry could repurpose one of the rooms in his trunk as a duelling room and _not_ receive a letter for underage magic use. Remus' room had its own attached bath and a window seat Moony could curl up on and watch the stars. The wards it already possessed would be helpful should Moony ever get a bad batch of Wolfsbane. Sirius' room was next to Remus' and was the only other bedroom, on the second floor, that had its own bath. It had originally been the second smallest of the upstairs bedrooms until the two Marauders cast a permanent expansion charm on it, making it the same size as Remus'.

The three guest rooms (two upstairs and one down) had already been utilized repeatedly by Harry's many friends and there were plans in the works for a massive sleep over with the whole Coalition, to take place a week before they would head back to Hogwarts. Harry, along with his parents, was unsure how to feel about his returning to Hogwarts. Twice in his first year he'd been nearly killed, Draco and Neville had nearly died as well, and Poppy had lost an eye. True Dumbledore was no longer Headmaster, Professor McGonagall now bore the burden of the position, but Harry was still uneasy about returning to the school.

Harry finished his shower and, after drying off, donned a pair of khakis and a green tee that Neepy had lain out for him. He laced up his dragon hide boots with half a thought to head to the stables after breakfast. He'd finally acquired a pair of Abraxans; a liver chestnut male with black mane, tail and feathers and a palomino female with blonde mane, tail, and feathers. He, Sirius, and Remus were hopeful that the pair would mate and produce the beginnings of a small herd for them.

Harry headed out his rooms and down through the Gallery, a hall hung with portraits of dozens of Potter ancestors. He'd immediately awoken the portraits after they'd decided to stay and had listened for hours to the stories his family could tell. The portrait above the fireplace in the great room had turned out to be the first of the Potters, the third son of Godric Gryffindor, and he had some _quite_ interesting stories about the founders.

Sirius and Remus were already sitting in the breakfast nook, eating away when Harry arrived from the gallery, where he was surprised to find a full English breakfast awaited him. Apparently Bauble, the kitchen elf (a male), thought Remus needed his strength tonight and had foregone the usual Italian selection of cereals, fruit salads, yogurts, and bread and rolls. Harry happily helped himself to a few rashers of bacon, two poached eggs, half a grilled tomato, fried mushrooms, a slice of buttered toast with strawberry jam, four sausages, a scoop of baked beans, hash browns, and a helping each of white and black pudding. A hot cup of tea, two sugars and a splash of crème, rounded off the hearty fry-up.

~*oo*~

Harry sat ensconced in his private study, his second year transfiguration book on his lap. His Hogwarts letter wasn't due until the end of the month, near his birthday, but The Standard Book of Spells was, well, standard. He'd gotten the entire set of Standard Book of Spells grades 1-7 when he'd first gone to Diagon Alley and loaded up on books (and everything else). Harry, however, was unable to focus on the interesting new spells in this book, owing to the fact that Remus was currently undergoing his transformation. Even being clear on the other side of the house Harry could hear the cries and howls. James was explaining that the Wolfsbane was actually helping and that Remus sounded better than he had in their school days, which did nothing to calm Harry as he thought of how horrible a past Remus must have had.

He finally closed the book with a snap and tossed it onto the desk in front of him. Heading into his room he stripped of his nightclothes that he'd put on not two hours before and made his way to the overly large walk-in shower, hoping that the beat of the spray on his head would drown out the howls and cries of pain that his father said would probably last another hour or two. The initial transformation was the hardest, being alone was next. As Remus now had the double team of the Wolfsbane and Sirius as Padfoot, once the change was complete the noise level would be greatly reduced.

Harry couldn't wait to learn the Animagus transformation so he could join his 'uncle' and godfather on these nights. Oddly enough, both Sirius and his father had talked to him about it, separate from one another. Sirius obviously didn't know Harry's mind was hosting the ghosts or spirits or whatever of his parents, and James had broached the subject first, unaware that Sirius was planning to as well. Harry was also planning on bringing it up with the Coalition at the mass sleepover that was planned for the near future. He knew the group would be on board with it, he was just unsure how difficult it would be to teach them all _en masse_.

Harry slept fitfully that night. True though it was that Remus' cries of pain had ceased by the time he'd exited the shower, his imagination had no trouble concocting all manner of horrid images of Remus in anguish from severely deformed limbs. So it was with acute relief that he spotted his honorary uncle sitting at the breakfast table looking haggard, but otherwise unharmed. Harry knew that Remus had gone through this change on a monthly basis since the man was a five year old boy, but that knowledge did noting to ease the heartache he felt for the Were. On the contrary, it was all to easy to imagine a young Remus, who should have only been worried about what to play and when he would start loosing baby teeth, going through such a painful experience, and knowing that it would happen every month for the rest of his life.

~*oo*~

A week later, the three were heading back inside from a day of swimming and riding the Abraxans, whom they'd named Lumina (the palomino mare) and Oscuro (the liver chestnut stallion). Harry was talking a mile a minute about his brief flight on the back of Oscuro (before Sirius had guided the stallion to ground) when Neepy popped into being just inside the doorway. She was wringing her hands in obvious distress and hopping from one foot to the other.

"Neepy, what is it?" Harry asked worriedly, he'd never seen his normally cheerful elf like this.

"There be's peoples in you's trunk house, Master Harry!" she squeaked anxiously, "They's be in a bad way! Getting's blood all over the floor!"

Harry went from confusion to shock to terror. He raced through the house to his room, flung open the lid of his trunk, and practically leapt into the rooms below. The sight that greeted him there was one of darkest nightmares. Draco lay sprawled on the floor where he'd fallen, obviously unconscious and Harry, for one, was glad of it. Draco's right leg and both his arms were bent at impossible angles and his face was badly bloodied. Lucius Malfoy was kneeling over his still wife, spell after spell leaping from his wand, slowly closing a horrifying slash that ran the length of her spine, the longest of many that crisscrossed the woman's' once flawless skin. Lucius' own wounds were just as terrible. He was casting with his left hand as his right arm was hanging limp and blackened at his side, his usual blond locks were died blood red from the hideous gash that began at his temple and curved around behind his ear. His jaw sat at an awkward angle and Harry knew instinctively that it too, was broken.

Sirius, who had followed Harry into the trunk with Remus, immediately began healing spells on Draco while Remus did the same for Lucius. As soon as his jaw was mended the Malfoy patriarch told them what had caused their injuries. At once Sirius called Darby, the head elf of the Potter properties and told him to find the Malfoy elves and assist them in removing every item from Malfoy Manor and take it to their family vault.

Lucius thanked him solemnly but sadly shook his head as he finished healing the wound on his wife's back.

"It's too late," he said mournfully sitting back and allowing Remus to heal his head wound, "They've already gotten what they wanted."

"Who was it," Remus asked after he'd finished, "and what did they take?"

'They were a group of ex-death eaters," he said softly, "and they took an artefact entrusted to me by the dark lord. A small leather bound book; a diary, infused with part of the dark lord's soul."

A/N: Oh my goodness! Can it be true? Can this be real? Did Power of Erised really post the first chapter of the continuation of _Spirits Within_? YES! Indeed it is true! The next instalment has Finally Begun! HOORAY! For real though, sorry it took so long, RL and all that. Hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Torturous Talks

**Harry Potter and the Serpents Within**

 **Summary:** Harry is settling into living with the last two Marauders in Italy. But when something happens to Draco and his parents; the Potter's fears about the upcoming year at Hogwarts, and the dangers they might face there, become all too real.

 **Disclaimer:** I make no monetary profit from this decent into the Potterverse. The warm fuzzies from reviews are all I need to sustain my muse … and sushi, I love me some sushi.

 **A/N:** I'm on a bit of a roll churning these chapters out, here's hoping the trend continues. Also … **WARNING:** Very dark Chap. Torture and Gore within, don't like don't read.

~*oo*~

 **Chapter 2:** Torturous Talks

The inhabitants of Potter Villa and the newly healed Malfoy family sat around the kitchen table, nursing hot cups of tea, though the adults' cups were spiked with a touch or three of Firewhiskey. Harry's pensieve sat in the centre of the table. After a fortifying sip from his cup, Lucius removed the happenings of the past few hours from his mind and deposited them within the basin. Harry, Sirius, and Remus each shared a glance filled with trepidation, and placed their fingers in the gaseous liquid.

~*oo*~

Lucius looked up from the paperwork on his desk when a house elf popped into his study.

"You's visitor is arrived, Master Malfoy, Sir." The creature squeaked, bowing low.

Lucius stood and made his way to the parlour, where the Floo access was, with some trepidation. The men he was to meet tonight were part of his old crowd, men who had blindly followed the same megalomaniac that he once had. He hoped to turn their minds from the dark lord as he too had been turned. As he entered his parlour he paused, those he'd asked to be here Vergil Crabbe, Galen Goyle, and Walden Macnair were in attendance. However, so too were the brother and sister pair Alecto and Amycus Carrow. He'd not wanted these two here, their fanaticism with the Dark Lord and his ways were second only to his insane sister-in-law Bellatrix, thank the gods that she was imprisoned for the rest of her life. Unfortunately, now that they were here there was no way to get them to leave without arousing suspicion. He'd have to push through with his plan and hope things went well.

Leading the group to his private sitting room, Lucius deftly poured tea from a gleaming silver set that had appeared hot and ready for he and his guests the second they'd stepped through the door. Settling himself in his customary wingback chair he began to speak.

"I have recently come to realize that our once illustrious leader has fallen," Lucius was interrupted.

"Well yeah, Lucius," Galen said dully, "that happened over ten years ago now."

Lucius sneered, "His downfall is not what I was referring to Goyle! He is not forever gone from this world. He was at Hogwarts just this past year, and he tried to kill my son."

Three of the five guests in the parlour sat visibly shocked, knowing that Narcissa was now incapable of bearing another child; to kill Draco would effectively end the Malfoy line. Those three, Lucius saw, were putting the pieces together as quickly as he had. If the dark lord would kill a pureblood, the son of one of his own devout followers, where would he draw the line? When would he stop killing? Who was to be left alive when all was said and done, one crazed wizard ruling over a barren wasteland?

"He also came very close to ending two other Ancient pureblood lines. His path has strayed from the one we once followed him down, and his mind has strayed to madness."

Lucius could see that his words were swaying the three he'd been addressing, but he knew that the Carrow's were not to be dissuaded from their lord. Amycus moved faster than he thought possible, striking out with her wand like a snake. Her spell sliced through Lucius' wand arm before he could react and rendered it useless. Her brother shot off three Obliviate's in rapid succession and nailed the three men each in the face, wiping the previous conversation from their minds. Before Lucius could fish his wand out of his pocket with his left hand he was stunned and the memory went black.

~*oo*~

The next memory started with a haze that indicated a concussion and the three (five) observers shared a gasp of horror. Lucius was tied to the chair he'd been sitting in, and in two chairs facing him sat his wife and son, also bound. Narcissa was bleeding steadily from numerous cuts on her arms and torso. Draco had blood all over his face and appeared to have a broken nose at least. The three men he'd had there for talks were nowhere to be found.

Alecto Carrow stepped into view from behind Lucius, where she'd been doing Merlin knew what, and waived three wands in his face. Lucius easily recognized his, Narcissa's, and Draco's foci.

"You aught not insult the Dark Lord, Lucius." Alecto whispered, "It ain't right. The Dark Lord is all powerful."

Amycus then stepped into view, brandishing his own wand and aiming directly at Draco.

Lucius went white, "Don't hurt my son. Amycus, please …"

"Ya here that, 'Lecto!" He interrupted, "High and Mighty Lucius Malfoy, saying 'please' to me!" Amycus cackled, "Oh, I won't hurt your boy anymore, Lucius. So long as you cooperate. And don't bother trying to call your house elves, they're … indisposed."

The two cackled before suddenly becoming serious.

"Where is it?" Alecto demanded, "We know the Dark Lord gave you something important. You ain't worthy to keep it anymore, so hand it over."

Lucius looked from one Carrow to the other, "I don't know what you're talking about." He replied.

Amycus' face twisted into a sneer, "You're lying, _Ossa Frangere_!" He incanted, shooting a bolt of bright red light from his wand. It struck Draco in the right leg and shattered his femur, causing the blond boy to scream in pain.

"NO!' Lucius shouted, "It's in a secure room, under this one." He relented.

"There's a good boy," Alecto chortled, peering at the floor. "How do we get in?"

"I," Lucius swallowed "I have to open it."

"Well then do so," Amycus ground out, "Unless you want me to break his other leg." He shifted his wand to point at Draco's left leg, causing to boy to strain feebly at his bonds.

"No! Stop hurting him!" Lucius begged, "I'll open it, but … you have to leave the room."

"Like hell!" Alecto spat, " _Diffindo_!" Her overpowered cutting curse shot through the fabric and wood of the dining chair Narcissa was tied to and sliced deeply into her back. She shrieked piercingly before slumping in her chair, unconscious.

"Cissa!" Lucius hollered, "Cissa, wake up! Cissa!"

Amycus backhanded the Malfoy scion across the face, "Quit you're bellyaching, you want her to live you open that room!" he shouted.

"I'm telling you," Lucius replied, "You have to leave the room!"

"And I'm telling you, it ain't happening! _Ossa Frangere_!" Draco tried unsuccessfully to twist out of the way of the spell before it crushed the bones in his left arm. The boy flung his head back in a blood curdling shriek, every limb shaking uncontrollably.

"STOP IT!" Lucius cried, "Please, stop it! I can't open the room when someone not of Malfoy blood is present. It's built into the wards, I can't help it!"

Alecto cocked her head to the side, the epitome of insanity, "Well, why didn't ya say so Luce? We'll be right outside the door, but were taking your boy with us, so don't be getting any smart ideas."

Amycus levitated the still shivering Malfoy heir through the doorway, intentionally catching his right arm on the jamb and laughing when he heard that bone snap. Draco could only groan weakly in pain, his body quickly going into shock.

Lucius grit his teeth in impotent rage, straining every muscle trying to snap the ties that bound him to what was once his favourite chair. He then quietly called for his elves, but none came. His hopes dashed and the steady tap … tap … tap of Narcissa's dripping blood thundering in his ears, he recited the pass phrase to open the drawing-room floor.

The two Carrows popped excitedly back into the room, leaving Draco in the hall. They eagerly descended into the room and started rooting through the dark artefacts hidden within. Lucius preyed that they be stupid enough to activate something and get themselves killed. After several minutes of increasingly frustrated noised from within, Amycus climbed back out and pointed his wand at Lucius,

"Where is it?" He snarled.

Lucius shook his head, "It's down there, on a bookshelf." He answered.

"It's a _book_?" Amycus exclaimed, surprised. "'Lecto, you're looking for a book." He called down to his sister.

"Bloody hell, there's got to be about a hundred books down here, which one is it?" She replied.

Amycus looked to Lucius, "Well? You wanna tell us which book it is?"

Lucius hesitated.

"Time's up!" Amycus crowed, " _Incindio_!"

Lucius howled as his right arm was set ablaze the ropes tying him to the chair remaining unaffected, obviously charmed impervious. Amycus let his arm burn for several seconds before extinguishing the flames.

"It's a small, leather bound journal," Lucius panted, "embossed with the name T. M. Riddle."

Amycus relayed that to his sister and circled Lucius as he waited for her to find it. IT was several minutes later when she let out a whoop of joy and clambered out of the room, the book in her hand. Amycus let out a bark of laughter and shot a cutting curse at the back of Lucius' head. The Blond man instinctively ducked and caught a grazing blow across the side of his head. Amycus growled and, forgoing his wand, punched Lucius hard in the jaw, smiling again when he heard the snap of it breaking.

"Oh, and Lucius," Alecto called as they prepared to leave, "Here's a little parting gift for you."

She turned and fired an explosion hex into the fireplace destroying it and disabling the Floo connected to it. Amycus grinned wickedly and, after dragging Draco back into the room, sealed the door closed.

"Lets see how long it takes you three to die in here. Blood loss for the missus, shock for your boy, and starvation for you unless your burn gets infected." He laughed.

The pair apparated out and the memory sped up, the minute hand of the mantle clock whirling around until it suddenly stopped, and a severely exhausted house elf appeared in the room.

"Master Lucius, Rudy is sorry. Rudy and the others … could not escape the spell … the bad people had them in. Rudy only … just now got freed." The elf snapped his fingers and the binds on the three Malfoy's vanished. Lucius slumped slightly but saw that Draco and Narcissa had shifted smoothly to the floor, Rudy had apparently magic-ed them from their chairs. Lucius could see it had cost him too, he doubted the little elf could manage much more magic.

"In Draco's room is a black trunk, bring that trunk here."

Rudy snapped his fingers again and the trunk appeared at Lucius' feet, just as Rudy sank to the floor, utterly spent. Snatching up the three wands the Carrows had left behind Lucius opened the trunk and gently levitated, first his wife, then his son down into the room within. Grateful that Draco had informed him of the address to Potter's trunk. He carefully sent his family through the green flames. The memory ended as he floo'd out.

~*oo*~


End file.
